The art and architecture of Twelver Shiʻism : Iraq, Iran and the Indian sub-continent / by James W. Allan.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Allan, James W.

Series:

Biennial Ehsan Yarshater lecture series ; no. 5.

Biennial Ehsan Yarshater lecture series ; no. 5

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Islamic art--Iraq.

Islamic art.

Islamic art--Iran.

Islamic architecture.

Iran.

Islamic art--India.

Islamic architecture--Iraq.

Islamic architecture--Iran.

Islamic architecture--India.

India.

Shīʻah.

Islam and art.

Islam and architecture.

Iraq.

Physical Description:

viii, 174 pages : illustrations (chiefly color), maps, plans, genealogical table ; 29 cm.

Place of Publication:

London : Azimuth Editions, [2012]

Summary:

Twelver Shi'ism is the dominant faith in southern Iraq and Iran and it has had a major historical role also in India, in particular in the Deccan and in Lucknow, but its distinctive art and architecture have received little attention and seldom appear in books on the arts of the Islamic World. This book attempts to correct this situation. It looks first at the history of the great Shi'i shrines of Iran and Iraq, a subject almost completely untouched in the standard works on Islamic architecture; at the role of Shi'i and, unexpectedly, Sunni (orthodox Islamic) patronage in their development; at the collecting of relics, and the use of inscriptions and symbols to identify religious buildings; and at the way in which different secondary Shi'i religious buildings (e.g. tekiyehs, ashur khanehs and kerbalas) appeared in Iran and in India. It then turns to the impact of Shi'ism on the craft industries, highlighting in particular the role of shrines in promoting art, the likely importance of Shi'ism in the development of Iran's steelworking industry, the use of inscriptions to identify objects as Shi'i, and the rise of figural art to communicate the Shi'i faith - in the arts of the book, in paintings of the Kerbala drama, and, since the Islamic revolution, on Iranian banknotes and stamps. Finally it turns to the impact on the art of Shi'ism of the annual Muharram processions, with their magnificent steel and brass standards ('alams), and highlights the syncretism characteristic of Shi'i art and architecture in the sub-continent.

Contents:

Shiʻism and shrines

Shiʻism, royal patronage and political power

Shiʻism and the craft industries. The Kashan ceramics industry in the 13th and early 14th century

Shrines and the craft industries

The craft industries and Shiʻi inscriptions

Shiʻism and the steelworking industry

Shiʻism and the arts of the book

Shiʻism and the Muharram processions.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 149-157) and index.

ISBN:

1898592292

9781898592297

OCLC:

768985232

Publisher Number:

99980888766